Rambo (series)
The Rambo series is a series of popular action-drama films all centering around the life and times of John Rambo, a traumatized former green beret and vigilante mercenary, who uses his survival skills to save the lives of others and bring justice to those who wish to harm those close to him, who are very few people. They all star Sylvester Stallone, and the character of Rambo saved his career. There are four feature films. Feature Films :Main article: Filmography First Blood (1982) John Rambo is a homeless, out of work drifter and troubled Vietnam Veteran suffering from his severe Post-Trautmatic Stress Disorder which resulted from his horrific memories from the bloody, carnage-ridden war. Rambo came home to a country that had no respect for soldiers and he was quickly shunned from society. Upon learning that the last of his special forces unit has died, his close friend Delmar Barry, Rambo realizes that there is no hope for him anymore and he goes off in an aimless direction. He heads to Hope, Washington where he is quickly arrrested on bogus charges by the town's paranoid sherriff, Will Teasle, and beaten severely by the brutal head deputy, Art Galt. Rambo's fragile mental state shatters because of this and he runs off into the thick forests, armed only with his survival knife and his expert Green Beret survival training, creating traps out of wood, camouflaging his skin and navigating through abandoned mines. It's one man against the State Police and the National Guard, and they're about to learn that you don't mess with one man who has been pushed too far... Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) Although he purposely never killed anyone during his one-man war with a small town sherriff's department, John Rambo turned himself in and spent three years in a labor camp prison, working inside a quarry. His former colonel, Sam Trautman, arrives and tells him that he will get a presidential pardon if he can bring himself to go back to the war-torn, hellish jungles of Vietnam to take photos of American POWs from the North Vietnamese Army and their Soviet Russian allies. Rambo is betrayed by the bureaucrats in charge and is captured and tortured. Rambo decides that he will rescue the POWs and finally seek revenge on those responsible. It would be a suicide mission for most men, but for Rambo, it's a walk in the park. Rambo III (1988) John Rambo is now living in Thailand, doing repairs at a Buddhist monestary and stick-fighting for extra money. He's tried to turn away from his violent life, but hasn't made any progress. He still suffers from his violent memories and tears away at himself in a struggle to determine who he really is from who he wants to be. All that changes when Colonel Sam Trautman arrives and tells him that he wants him to tag along on a mission to Afghanistan to deliver weapons to the rebel tribes who are fighting invading Soviet armies. Rambo declines, despite wanting to help his friend. Weeks later, Rambo finds that Trautman has been captured by the brutal Colonel Zaysen and his savage henchman, Kourov. Rambo knows that he is the only man that can save Trautman and launches a one-man rescue mission against the impossible odds. Rambo IV (2008) For over thirty years, loner hermit John Rambo has finally been living a relatively normal existance in Thailand, catching snakes and using his pontoon boat as a taxi downriver. But he still has trouble with his PTSD and is unable to come full circle with who he is. He seems to have lost his faith in humanity due to the terrible things he has seen and done, and has become an athiest. All that changes when Sarah Miller, a kindly Christian missionary, arrives and asks for his help taking them into Burma. Rambo knows that Burma is ravaged by a sixty-year long civil war and is the site of rampant ethnic cleansing, but when Sarah restores his faith in humanity, he finds something to live for again and agrees to transport them, free of charge. Rambo saves the group's lives from a band of river pirates, but the only one grateful is Sarah. She gives him a cross necklace and leaves to deliver humanitarian aid and medicine. But then Rambo finds that the group of missionaries has been captured and his fiery rage is reignited. Rambo comes full circle, forges a machete and retrieves his compound bow, ready to dig up his long-buried skills for one last rescue mission, one that the Burmese Army will never forget.